Or that some drinkers are under the impression that a tripel is “triple strength.”

Thus I point you to a wonderful post from Martyn Cornell: Everything you wanted to know about X.

Although La Trappe gets a mention the point is not to explain the Belgian terms. It’s mostly about Britain and the history of denoting beers X, XX, XXX and just keep going. But you should be able to connect the dots.

Thiel is returning to his home state of Wisconsin to become director of quality control at the New Glarus Brewing in New Glarus.

Thiel has been at Ommegang since the brewery opened in 1997.

In 2004 he became the first American brewer knighted by the Belgian brewers’ organization Chevalerie de Fourquet (”Knights of the Mashing Fork”), receiving the award during a celebration held annually in Brussels. An hour-long parade blocks traffic around the busy Grand’Place, with members of the Knights of the Mashing Fork marching in colorful robes to the ceremony, which itself goes on for some time.

Leinhart has worked in the brewing industry for more than 20 years, in England, Germany and the United States. He has experience in breweries of all sizes, from brewpubs to production microbreweries to the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Newark, N.J. He joined the Ommegang staff in January of 2007 to develop increased brewing capacity and manage installation of new packaging and brewhouse equipment.

Reminded me that I addressed this question last month at Amazon.com, but not here so . . .

InventorSpot posted what Seth Plattner calls the 10 Best Beers with Balls of 2007. The premise is that the “beers on this list push the limits of conventional brewing.” So you get Midas Touch Golden Elixir-The King’s Beer and BILK - The Weird Guy’s Beer (since it is made with milk).

Also Westvleteren 12. This entry could have used a little fact checking. Besides referring to a distributor (the monastery sells beer only at its gate and the inn it runs next door) there’s the assertion the beer is “so named due to its 12% alcohol by volume.” This despite the fact you can read 10.2% on the photo with the story.

So why Westvleteren 8 (not quite so strong) and 12? And why Rochefort 6, 8, and 10?

Until the early 1990s, Belgian brewers measured gravity in Belgian degrees. This could, and can, be calculated by subtracting 1 from a beer’s specific gravity and multiplying by 100. Thus a 1.060 beer would be 6 degrees.

Today brewers measure in degrees Plato, but the beers may take their names from the former standard. Thus, Achel referred to its initial beers as Blond 4 and Bruin 5 when it resumed brewing. Westvleteren and Rochefort also call their beers by degree numbers as well as by the color of their crown caps.

When Westvleteren 12 was introduced in the 1930s it apparently started at 12 degrees (28 °P!) and was 12% abv. These days the starting gravity is about 21.5 °P. About because it truly varies from batch to batch. When I visited the brewery I saw notes where consecutive batches started at 21.5, 21.1 and 21.7.

That’s one of the things that makes Westvleteren special. Even though these batches will be blended into a larger lagering tank after primary fermentation not every — heck, not any — Westy 12 is exactly the same. It 12 will lager until it is appropriately clear. That’s generally about eight weeks, but can be 10, the monk in charge of brewing explains, “when you get a difficult one.”

Belgian law permits brewers more tolerance when listing alcohol content than in the United States. The listed content may vary by 1% alcohol by volume, compared to .3% in the States. The Westvleteren 12 will be between 10% and 10.5%

The limited edition beer (approximately 20,000 bottles) is available mostly in Belgium, with some sold in the nearby region. Current plans do not call for a second edition of the beer, nor for any of it to be shipped to the United States.

“Trippel” in the name refers to the fact the beer is hopped with three kindsd of hops rathr than the usual two, and at a higher hopping rate (though not three times a much as Duvel, which measures 30 bittering units).

As well as using Syrian Goldings and Saaz in this beer, as is typical, the brewers at Duvel included the American hop Amarillo in the boil, then dry hopped with Styrian Goldings.

And the headline read: “With beer this good, no wonder they keep silent.”

To Mr. Little’s credit he didn’t write that monks take a vow of silence. We just have a clever headline writer playing on an old misconception.

The notion that Trappists take a vow of total silence is incorrect. Such a vow never existed, although there were strict rules about speaking. While those rules have eased, at some times and in some places silence still is expected. The purpose of silence is to give one space in which to pray, meditate, and read, and to allow others to do the same.

I won’t guarantee how much you’ll learn from the story, though I sure wish Little had elaborated on how Brother Jules makes beer with a wrench.

Interviewed are Tomme Arthur of Port Brewing/Lost Abbey, Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing, Randy Thiel of brewery Ommegang, Rob Tod and Jason Perkins of Allagash Brewing, Peter Bouckaert of New Belgium Brewing, Steven Pauwels of Bouevard Brewing and Mark Ruederich of North Coast Brewing. Bouckaert and Pauwels were both born in Belgium.

Fun reading, plus ideas that will make your beer better (if you are a brewer).

For instance, from Bouckaert:

“Of course I had feedback from my Belgian colleagues, sometimes more than I’m hoping for. As long as we call it Belgian we will have feedback. The problem is that most “Belgian” beer claims really are not Belgian, they are American. We got into the habit of calling funky, sour or high alcohol beers Belgian. That is not what Belgian beer is; this is what American brewing thinks Belgian is.”

Here, here.

And from Paewels:

“Modern brewhouses are designed to brew German-style lagers in a very energy efficient way. When we started using our new state-of-the-art brewhouse we had to make several adjustments to the initial setup. The Belgian, English and German way of brewing is different.”

That’s something to think about whether you are making beers brewed in other countries or simply drinking them.

And it is brewed in the manner of a Belgian White Ale, or witbier, although apparently without any signature unmalted wheat.

It popped above the radar because Harvest Moon began bottling earlier this month.

What’s it taste like? Don’t know, but the reviews at Rate Beer are mixed.

Until now Harvest Moon has been best known for its Pigs Ass Porter.

Eric Asimov writes:

Whoa, I can hear beer connoisseurs saying. I’ve heard of Trappist ales and lambics, Belgian wheat beers and even Belgian red and brown ales, but pale ale?

They have a point. There is no category, strictly speaking, of Belgian pale ales. But the Belgians make a lot of beers that defy categorization. We gathered 23 that may not have a whole lot in common except that they are excellent summer quenchers.

You won’t find all 23 rated (so like me you might be wondering what the other 13 were), but No. 1 is Brasserie des Rocs Blonde and the second is DeRanke XXX Bitter. Two very different beers.

But then so are the next two, Petrus Aged Pale and Orval.

One thing missing is when the beers were bottled, which a consumer can calculate from the mandated “best by” dating.

In his blog, Asimov writes most of these are typical “ready to drink now ales” with a lineup of vintage beers he recently enjoyed at dinner with Garrett Oliver. In fact, several of the beers in Times tasting could do double duty. They are refreshing in the hot August heat, but also fun to cellar.

Bringing us back to Orval.

Speaking on a panel with other Belgian brewers last year at the Craft Brewers Conference in Seattle, Orval brewing director Jean-Marie Rock said that he likes to drink Orval almost immediately after it is released to the public.

He described Americans who like the Brettanomyces character - what Michael Jackson describes as “hop sack” and “fresh leather” aromas - that Orval is known for as “lucky” because he doesn’t intend for it to make itself known until six months after bottling. And he prefers Orval at three months old.

You don’t see much Orval only three months old in the U.S., but you will find bottles less than six. Just reading the description in the times it appears their sample was older and the Brett had kicked in:

“Spicy, bitter and very dry with a lingering touch of orange zest and funk.”

I wasn’t sure in which blog to put the link in, but I picked here because Keene’s devotion to Belgian-inspired beer surely has meant that those of us in far-flung parts of the country (like New Mexico) have access to a few beers we might not otherwise.

From the Chronicle:

Q: What was the first great beer you ever had?

A: Before the bar opened in 1986, I was watching the “Today” show and Bryant Gumbel was in Belgium and they were drinking Chimay. And he made the statement that this was probably the finest beer in the world. And that stuck in my mind and I went out and found Chimay here in San Francisco at Liquor Barn. I got a bottle of it. It came in a 750 (ml bottle) with a cork finish. It was the Chimay red.

For the next year, I pretty much bought the Liquor Barns out of Chimay. I even had to go to L.A. to get it ’cause there was no more Chimay up here. That’s how I started my love affair with Belgian beer, which continues today.

Grab a Belgian or Belgian-inspired beer (wishing it was the Toronado Anniversary Ale from Russian River) and raise a toast to David.

“We are up and running and making our debut at the Wazoo Beer Festival in Tampa FL on Aug. 4,” he writes. The first two beers are a spiced saison and an amber ale. All of his beers will be unfiltered and bottle conditioned, sold only in corked and caged 750ml bottles. They won’t be available on draft or in 12-ounce bottles.

More from the St. Petersburg Times.

“I’d rather put out a small amount of a really good product than a lot of a mediocre product, ” Sylvester told the Times.